CORRECTION 18 NOVEMBER: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NAME OF THE PROSECUTOR IN THE CASE, BEAT MARFURT, WAS INCORRECTLY GIVEN AS THE NAME OF THE COMPANY COMMANDER. GENEVALUNCH APOLOGIZES TO MR MARFURT FOR THE ERROR.

Thun, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The company commander involved in the tragic deaths of five soldiers as they rafted down the Kander river near Wimmis in canton Bern last June 2008 has been sentenced by a military tribunal to 18 months in prison suspended and a fine of CHF100. He was dismissed from the army.

The prosecutor had asked for a ten-month suspended prison sentence and a CHF9300 fine, also suspended. The parties have five days in which to file an appeal. Neither the prosecutor nor the defending attorney made any declarations after the ruling.

Background: “Two military tribunals press charges in Kander and Jungfrau accidents“, 11 September 2009, GenevaLunch